"The females and young, at the first cry, quickly disappear. He then
approaches the enemy in great fury, pouring out his horrid cries in
quick succession. The hunter awaits his approach with his gun
extended: if his aim is not sure, he permits the animal to grasp the
barrel, and as he carries it to his mouth (which is his habit) he
fires. Should the gun fail to go off, the barrel (that of the ordinary
musket, which is thin) is crushed between his teeth, and the encounter
soon proves fatal to the hunter.

"In the wild state, their habits are in general like those of the
'Troglodytes niger', building their nests loosely in trees, living on
similar fruits, and changing their place of resort from force of
circumstances."

Dr. Savage's observations were confirmed and supplemented by those of
Mr. Ford, who communicated an interesting paper on the Gorilla to the
Philadelphian Academy of Sciences, in 1852. With respect to the
geographical distribution of this greatest of all the man-like Apes,
Mr. Ford remarks:

"This animal inhabits the range of mountains that traverse the interior
of Guinea, from the Cameroon in the north, to Angola in the south, and
about 100 miles inland, and called by the geographers Crystal
Mountains. The limit to which this animal extends, either north or
south, I am unable to define. But that limit is doubtless some
distance north of this river [Gaboon]. I was able to certify myself of
this fact in a late excursion to the head-waters of the Mooney (Danger)
River, which comes into the sea some sixty miles from this place. I was
informed (credibly, I think) that they were numerous among the
mountains in which that river rises, and far north of that.